Free to a Good Home
by CoalTreasure
Summary: Based on sleepoldvamp's AU on DeviantArt. Jazz and Prowl find a five year old with a spark. Bad summary, I know. Please read and review, don't own!
1. Chapter 1

**I need a life. Anyways, my muse has run off to sleepyoldvamp on DeviantArt. Enjoy!!**

Free to a Good Home

Five year old Leah Nightbird Beta stared out the window in her chair, the chair that she's used since her parents died a few months ago when she was four. She still remembered that night.

_Flashback_

_Leah and her mom were giggling over a joke her father told when the drunk driver hit them. Leah just saw the two headlights before there was a sickening __**crunch**__. She wasn't completely sure how she got out of the car but she did remember shaking her daddy to wake him up. Only Daddy didn't wake up, and he always gave her attention. The EMTs had no trouble pulling her away from the bodies. She didn't understand death. She only knew that cartoon characters die, then came back. Leah was so wrong._

_When the funeral came, she waited for her parents to pop out of the caskets and everyone would laugh. She waited, and waited, and waited as the caskets were lowered into the ground, her smile fading. Finally, she asked the pastor, "When is Mommy and Daddy comin' back?" _

_The pastor looked shocked, then sad as he explained true death to her. Then Leah began to cry. Not quiet tears. Loud tears that made everyone turn their heads. The pastor had to use his shoulder for her to cry on. _

_Then she came to the children's home, and when her first family came, it wasn't a happy family. It was a pervert family._

_End Flashback_

Leah's dark skin and hair still crawled where Mr. Tailor touched her. They weren't loving touches, they were the touches of someone who feared rejection. They could never touch her at night; she screamed from the beginning of the night till dawn. Mrs. Tailor only cared about the jewelry on the shopping channel and buying them with the money that they were suppose to spend on her. The Tailors had her for three weeks before they returned her. Even then, she still screamed at night.

But now she was staring with amethyst eyes at the sign on the telephone pole. It said, "Puppies! Free to a good home." Underneath it had a phone number and address.

Leah would have laughed if it wouldn't change her image. She needed a good home, not a place where she'll just be locked up in the laundry room forever and no hot meals. Hot meals, heaven when she came back and the older kids made beef stew.

Leah looked up to the sky to see that it was almost night time. She started screaming as soon as it became dark. About half way into the night, she stopped.

Leah remembered what her mother said about her, that she was driven. She would never give up and now she realized how pointless screaming was. It wouldn't bring her parents back. Her parents would want her to be happy, not screaming her head off. Her mother would be ashamed if she knew that Leah was doing this. She needed to find the ones that felt like her. She fell into a restless sleep, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.

--------------------------------------

The next morning, she was rudely awaken by rough voices, wails of terror, and cussing. Straightening up, she risked a glance at the people that were in the room.

The children's home had basicly two big rooms, one for the girls and one for the boys. Showers, bathrooms, the kitchen, and other rooms had no true importance to the orphans. So seeing guys that looked like they just came out of prison was spooky to her.

Turning back up front to the window, she noticed the two cops and four civilians running toward the door. She also noticed that it was almost dark and a squad of police cars and police people were waiting with guns out.

Leah began to count down the seconds before the night would come and she could scream her terror of the people that somewhat feel like her but not her. The two that felt like her were close, she could feel it.

Suddenly she was thrown into the wall and was told, "Stay there!"

The twitchy eyes that grabbed her then turned to the other girls and boys in the room and screamed, "The rest of you will go!"

The rest of the kids ran out, leaving Leah with the creepy people. Just as the one with the black and silver eyes was about to speak, the door burst open to reveal the two cops and one of the civilians, his brown hair and eyes wild like his guns. He had a couple of his tattoos showing despite the shirt and earrings completely dominated one ear while a couple of rings occupied his other ear and one on his eyebrow, a nose stud, and a lip stud. One cop had fat dreadlocks, tan skin, and wore sunglasses. The other cop had red hair with two small parts that were white, icy blue eyes, and pale skin.

Leah then noticed that night had fallen and started to scream as her little purple feathered wings came out and began to weave a snake, the only thing that she knew to make. She discovered her power of animalistic imagery when Mr. Tailor tried to move her into the laundry room before Mrs. Tailor could get back. He was about to hit her when something bit him, causing him to look down to see the little purple adder at his ankle. He screamed just as Mrs. Tailor came into the door and see him yelling that there was a snake in the house while Mrs. Tailor saw nothing. But it was not funny to Leah, because seconds later Mr. Tailor fainted and Mrs. Tailor called 911. Later, after Mr. Tailor received antivenin for the bite and she was in the laundry room, Leah tried to see what else she could do, thus discovering her little wings.

So, she was surprised when the earring guy exploded his tan wings, the red head cop unfurled his red wings graciously, and the dreads cop flapped golden ones as well. And they were all feathered like hers.

Leah continued to scream even after a voice in the boys' room yelled for a retreat. The civilian looked at her amazed while the two cops tried to get to her before getting bitten by one of the snakes that somehow accumulated . Finally they made it and immediately swept her into a hug.

"Shhh, sweetheart, shhh. You're gonna be okay," the dreadlock one whispered in a Deep South accent. The red head one began to rub her back, comforting her. Together the two cops calmed her enough for the snakes to go back to her wings. Finally a voice called out to the three adults, "We've got to go!"

"All right, Eric!" The brown haired man left them, his wings disappearing into him. The other two tried to leave too, but Leah realized that the two cops felt like her and screamed "NO!!!" and a purple boa constrictor wrapped itself around the threesome, squishing them together. Both cops looked shocked, then the red head's lips started to twitch as he said, "Odd."

"Oh, boy," the other sighed, then yelled, "PRIME!!! PROWL AND I ARE KINDA STUCK!!!"

"What do you mean 'stuck', Jazz?" the voice asked. A head appeared with the voice, revealing a man with black hair with two thin strips of red in it and a black goatee, pale skin, and bright blue eyes. His eyebrows shot up at the sight of the purple boa constrictor and said, "Ah. You are stuck. Bring her with us outside."

With that he disappeared. Jazz, the one with the dreads, looked at Prowl, not noticing the little hand that snagged his sunglasses to reveal golden eyes like his wings. "Well, we better go with them. Hey, sweetheart?"

Leah looked up with his glasses on her face, grinning, as Prowl began to tickle her. Giggles erupted as Jazz continued, "I carry you down and let you go if you let us go and you give me back my glasses. Okay?"

Trying to escape the tickling fingers, Leah nodded, then the boa constrictor returned to her and Jazz snagged back his sunglasses. "See? Not hard at all," he teased once Leah realized that she was tricked. "Now to the downstairs!"

On the way down, her wings, along with Jazz's and Prowl's wings, disappeared and Prowl asked what her name was. She told him, and he replied with a kind smile, "Leah? That's a pretty name."

Finally, they were on the lawn and Jazz was handing her over to one of the teens when she began to whimper. Jazz ruffled her hair with a sad smile and said, "Sorry, sweetheart."

Prowl gave her a hug, and both left to go to the Eric Prime person. Leah attempted to bury her head into the teen's shoulder, tears of sadness rolling down her face. Prowl and Jazz finished talking to Eric, then to the police chief, and finally headed to their cruiser. All the while, Leah was watching them, wishing that she could live with them.

She turned away when the cruiser pulled away from the curb. She wished again with all of her heart that Jazz and Prowl would take her home.

_Meanwhile…Inside the cruiser_

Jazz looked at Prowl as they drove to the police station to clock out. "So Eric's calling a family meeting when we get back home?"

Jazz and Prowl moved in with the rest of the Fireshots after a burglary in their very own home nearly killed them after realizing too late that Oblivion was inside. So they decided to stick with the other Fireshots, since they were practically family to them.

Prowl nodded. "Yes. It has to do with Leah."

"So on a scale of 1 to 10, this would be a 10?"

"Yes."

**Please read and review!! There shall be more!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Foreshotters talk about fstering Leah. Well it happen?**

Free to a Good Home part 2

_At the Fireshot _

Prowl and Jazz were the last to arrive at the meeting, Gabriel, Sebastian, and Rosanne, their English next door neighbor and owner of the Café and Tats shop, sat at the kitchen table while Eric stood at the counter and Alex was watching the stove. Tomato sauce was in the air, signaling supper for the night. Soon the spaghetti was done and everyone had a plate. Then the meeting began.

"So what the bloody 'ell did Ion want with a children's home in the first place?" Roseanne asked.

"It had a spark in it. A girl only five years old named Leah," Prowl answered.

"You stopped him?"

"Yes. But which means that we will have to take her in before Ion tries again. Any suggestions?" Eric asked with a small smirk. Everyone looked at him with humorous glances. Jazz looked thoughtful after his glance and said, "We could foster her."

A murmur of agreement course through the table, then Chase "Prowl" Hunter spoke up, saying, "Then we need to clean up the place in order to pass a possible inspection."

"I'll have to be at the inspection too. They might not allow girls to live with a bunch of guys like you all," Roseanne said. Everybody agreed, and as soon as everyone finished supper they began to clean up the whole apartment.

_2 days later _

Leah and her bags were at the door of the children's home, waiting for the social worker to pick her up to take her to her new foster family. She was somewhat scared at what would become of her, but the man who called, Chase Hunter, seemed nice to the agent. She looked up at the sound of honking and ran out the door. The social worker opened the back door and proceeded to strap her in the booster seat, with only a little wriggling from Leah.

Along the way, Leah fell into a small nap, because it was almost 8 pm and she was up since 7 am packing her clothes and being washed head to toe in soap, shampoo, and conditioner. Not only that, the older kids forbade her to play with the others, lest she got even the tiniest bit of mud on her. After a hot dinner of beef stroganoff, she was forced into another bath to make sure that she was squeaky clean.

When the car rolled to a stop, Leah started to wake up, but didn't open her eyes. Voices drifted to her, causing her to shift and try to open her eyes. The seat belt around her clicked open, and someone lifted her into their arms. That was enough for her to open her eyes to see a blue green shirt.

"Come on, sleeping beauty. You're too tired to stay up too much longer." Leah looked up to Jazz, the man who saved her two days before.

"Mr. Jazz?" Leah asked.

"Just Jazz will do, or Dad," Jazz replied.

"You're my foster daddy?"

"Yep, and everyone else are foster uncles and cousin. Except Prowler. He's your daddy, too. Now get some sleep."

"Not tired." Leah stubbornly said, becoming more awake by the second.

"Tired." Jazz teasingly yet firmly said as he continued to walk behind the brown haired man that she met that same night that she met Jazz up the shop's stairs to the apartment.

"Not tired!" Leah began to wiggle, trying to get out of his hold.

"Alright, alright!!" Jazz laughed, putting her down, causing her to turn and finally notice the rings in his ears and dreadlocks. "Now come on, the others are waiting."

"Hmph, she's stubborn." The brown haired man said at the top of stairs. He allowed Jazz pass first with his package, while waiting for the social worker. Leah scowled quite adorably at him and explained, "You'd be stubborn too if you're not allowed to play by the older kids' standards and _two_ baths on top of that."

The brown haired man chuckled as he knelt down to her height. "You're right. I would have been grumpy rather than stubborn though. I'm Gabriel Ironhide."

He extended his hand and Leah shook it. "Leah Beta, sir."

"That's Uncle Gabe to you, little miss," Gabe chuckled as he rose to his full height after pulling her into a hug and the worker came up to the landing. A sharp whistle alerted all of them to Jazz, who had opened the front door. There was a hallway leading straight to the kitchen, which led Leah to a table with three other men at it.

One had blonde hair that was buzzed at the sides while having long hair on top. He had emerald green eyes, wasn't wearing a shirt, and had a tattoo over his left side of his chest. His ears sported some earrings, but not a lot.

The other was Eric Prime, the other guy that she met when she was saved. His black goatee was trimmed, his hair a mess, and his deep blue eyes tired. He too had no shirt on, and his back was to her, helping her see the flame tattoos over his back and arms. He also had piercings in his ears.

The last one had blonde hair with two tiny black "antennas", which were perked up. He wore a shirt, one that had a bumblebee on it. He had sapphire blue eyes, and seemed to glow.

Suddenly she was lifted up in strong arms and was seated on Prowl's hip. Leah squealed in delight and hugged him. "Mr. Prowl!"

"Chase, Prowl, or Papa will do, little one," Prowl said chuckling. The social worker came in and soon everyone was at the table, Gabe had put her things in her room.

_My room_, Leah thought happily. She was sitting in Prowl's lap, Jazz next to them on the right and Gabe on the left, sitting next to the plain blonde, who introduced himself as Sebastion "Ratchet" Corwell, with an arm wrapped around him. The other blonde was Alex "Bee" Honeyvale, and he was the youngest of them besides Leah.

The social worker was talking and pointing things out to Eric, who nodded his head occasionally as she pointed out specific items, like her health. Soon, everything was said and done with the papers signed and all warnings issued the social worker left. It seemed that everyone in the room waited with baited breath for the engine to start up and pull away. When it did, everybody hooted and hollered.

"Finally! Now," here Sebastion rounded to Leah, "I need to see your wings, youngling. To make sure that they're healthy."

Leah looked surprised, then recognition took over. "Oh. Okay."

Hesitantly, she brought out her tiny purple wings, which made her long silky hair glow in its braid.

"Hmm. On the small side, but they'll grow. Not ready for their first molt yet, but could be a few months before that comes. Overall, very healthy wings," Sebastion gave his assessment and Leah beamed. "Now, Jazz and Chase said that you can create snake images. This correct?"

Leah nodded and said, "I've been trying to do a mouse, but I haven't gotten there yet."

"Ah."

"Don't worry about that right now," said Eric. "You need to go to bed; it's _way_ pass your bedtime."

Eric was right; it almost ten o'clock and she was getting drowsy with her wings out. Jazz picked her up as she began to yawn and rub her eyes. Gently he carried Leah to her room, her little wings disappearing as he walked. When Jazz entered her room, Leah was just about gone. He had to help her get in her PJs, which was a tee shirt and pajama pants. By the time he had her braid undone and in bed, Leah was dead to the world. She didn't even wake up when Jazz and Prowl gave her kisses on her forehead and the others hugged her.

"Boy, she's gone," Alex commented, his chin on Eric's shoulder.

"Yeah, she is. Come on. Let's follow her example and hit the hay too," Gabriel said. All the men agreed and the correct couples went their rooms.

_Later that night _

Leah woke up from the nightmare that held her captive with a gasp. Her little heart was going as fast it could go without bursting. Quickly she got out of bed and ran out of her room. After she got to the hallway, she looked into the first open door and saw Jazz and Chase there in bed, asleep.

Carefully, Leah crossed the floor to the foot of the bed, not noticing the golden eye or the blue one watching her. As quickly and quietly as she could, Leah climbed the footboard. She had just made it on the bed when two sets of arms pulled her to the head. Jazz and Prowl nuzzled her and Prowl asked, "Bad dream?"

Leah nodded her little head. Jazz pulled her under the covers and said, "You can sleep with us. We'll keep you safe."

Leah snuggled into both chests as much as she could, then both newly foster dads kissed her head. Feeling safe, she fell asleep again.

Jazz and Chase wrapped their arms around each other and Leah, and too, fell asleep.

**Please read and review!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here you all go! Somewhat sad, somewhat happy. Some how I always mix the two.**

Free to a Good Home part 3

The next day was a rainy Saturday, but everyone was still up by eight thirty. Well, everyone except Jazz and Leah. Chase allowed them to sleep in, seeing as it was their day off, while he got up and talked to Alex, the only one besides Sebastion who was up. Gabe was up next, and then Eric came staggering in. He was never good to talk to until he had his own special coffee, brewed the way he likes it and only he and Alex knew how to do that.

"So, any reason Leah was sleeping with you two last night?" Gabriel asked. Eric's brain had just kick started right then and he just about lost his mouthful of coffee. Alex's eyebrows and antennas shot up, then relaxed when Prowl explained.

"So who's gonna wake the two sleeping beauties?" Sebastion asked.

"I'll do it!" Alex exclaimed before Prowl could say a word. He ran off as Chase shook his head. Five minutes later, Alex came back in and said, "Jazz growled at me when I tried to move Leah and just pulled her closer to him."

Prowl smiled. "You don't know how to wake him up properly, that's why."

With that, he walked to his room and entered it. There Jazz was, clutching Leah to him and totally oblivious to what Chase was about to do. Quickly he crossed to the room to kiss in between Jazz's shoulder blades. Jazz's breathing stuttered as Chase began to kiss his way up Jazz's neck. When Jazz finally opened his eyes to see who was kissing him, Prowl made a quick and powerful dive into his mouth. When they finally broke apart, Jazz asked, "What time is it?"

"Eight thirty. You two better get up if you want breakfast."

"Okay. Wanna help me wake up Leah?" Jazz asked with twinkle of mischief in his eye. Prowl laughed and they proceeded to tickle the living daylights out of her. Squeals of laughter and many "No! Unfair! Stop! Please stop!"s erupted from the bed, but the torture soon stopped after Leah started hiccupping. Prowl pulled her into a tight hug, which surprisingly helped her stop hiccupping. Jazz grinned and said, "Come on, let's get some breakfast."

Leah's eyes went wide at the word "breakfast" and Chase felt her body stiffen in his arms. Frowning, he asked, "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"Mr. Tailor would make breakfast on Sundays, and be really creepy about it. Touching me; on the hair, the shoulders, my hand and he would have a look on his face that wasn't nice. Once, I refused to come out of the laundry room where I slept, and he dragged me out and tried to hit me." Leah explained with a whimper.

Prowl and Jazz radiated fury. How dare that man try to harm Leah! Chase had his emotions controlled first and asked, "What made him stop?"

"Somebody rang the doorbell, and as soon as he was away I rushed back into the laundry room. There were bungee cords there and I wrapped one around the doorknob and connected it to one of the bins. It was pull only, so he couldn't get in."

Jazz wrapped his arms around both Prowl and Leah and said, "Oh, Leah. Our _**brave**_ Leah."

"That was the nightmare last night. It was about Mr. Tailor," sobbed Leah as she buried her head into Prowl's chest.

"Shh, shh. It's okay, it's okay. You're safe, he's not going hurt you anymore," Prowl and Jazz said. After five minutes, Leah went from crying her eyes out to sniffing as Jazz and Chase continue to hold her. Finally, the sniffling stopped as her back was rubbed by two sets of hands.

"How about you change out of those pajamas and we'll tell the others about Mr. Tailor," Jazz proposed. Leah nodded and asked, "Can they still be happy when they see me? You know, have fun?"

"Of course, sweetheart, of course." Prowl said. With that, Leah hopped off the bed and ran to her room, leaving Jazz and Prowl to go to the kitchen and explain the whole situation. After the whole situation was explained and Leah's request said, Eric walked over to the opening to the hallway and waited. Sebastion looked at him confused. "What are you doing, Prime?"

Eric shushed him, and continued to wait for Leah. It probably would of worked too if it wasn't for the tiny purple mouse running at his feet. At the sound of squeaking at his feet, Eric looked down to see the mouse. He shook his head and yelled, "Using your powers for something like this is cheating, Leah!"

Giggling alerted Eric of Leah's position just out of the doorway, and with a grin, he swooped down and hoisted her into his arms and processed to tickle and give her raspberries. Laughter erupted from everyone as Leah squirmed and squealed. Finally, the torture ended when Eric put her down, though she was a little wobbly.

"Love the hair, girl. I hope you brush that out soon." Alex said. It was true; Leah's hair looked like a rat's nest. Grinning, she bounced as straight as she could over to the chair nearest to Gabriel.

"What's up squirt?" he asked, ruffling her hair while trying to absorb the outfit she picked out; coveralls with a blue shirt. It wasn't the shirt that caught his attention, it was the coveralls. There were tears that were improperly sewn together and patches that had seen better days.

"We're gonna need to go shopping soon. I don't think those coveralls are going to survive soon," Sebastion said. Leah looked down at her selection and said, "Oh."

Thankfully, breakfast arrived before someone went rabid and tried to eat someone else. Scrambled eggs, biscuits, potato pancakes, milk for Leah, and coffee for the adults. It was almost nine thirty by the time they were done. Soon Eric, Alex, Gabe, and Seb were downstairs, setting up and opening the garage for the day and Leah was exploring the whole house. There was Prime and Bee's room, which was somewhat messy but it wasn't like it needed to be cleaned too badly. Hide and Ratchet's room she didn't go into because of the little shards of scrap metal embodied into the carpet. She had already seen Jazz and Prowl's room, so she explored her room a little bit more.

There was dresser for her clothes, the bed that she made while she got dressed, and not really much else. After putting her clothes into the dresser, even though most are going to be thrown out, she went back to exploring the apartment. The living room was where the entertainment center was, and to get to the basement she had two sets of stairs that she could take; one from the apartment while the other was from the garage. The basement had training equipment and what looked like a safe.

Finally she raced upstairs to the garage to see the boys not really hard at work because of the hard rain that was blowing outside. Eric was working underneath a big ol' truck while Gabe and Seb had the hood of a car opened and were checking the oil. Finally, Bee was working on an engine that looked like it somewhat went up in flames.

Leah settled for Alex and rushed over to his side. Feeling the tiny hands at his leg, Alex looked down to the shining eyes of a certain five year old. He smiled. "Hey, Leah."

"Whatcha doin'?" Leah asked.

"Fixing a cracked piston. The grime here is what's killing me. It's making it hard to take the cracked one out and replace that one with a new one." Alex replied.

"Can I help?"

"Sure. Helping me take off this grime would definitely help a bunch."

"Okay!" Soon the rag that Leah had snatched off the tool box was dirty, but most of the grim was gone and the piston was replaced. Another car pulled up to Alex and Leah to be fixed and at the wheel was a soaking-wet Jazz.

"Hi, Daddy!" Leah called out, trying out the word to Jazz. Jazz's eyes sparkled with joy as he called back, "Hey Leah! Hey Alex!"

Then he adapted a playful look as he asked, "What are you doin' there Leah?"

Giggling, she replied, "Helpin' Bee!"

"Really, she is." Alex said at Jazz's raised eyebrows as he climbed out of the car.

"Hmm. Okay. Be good for Bee, okay sweetie?" Jazz gave her a kiss to the forehead after "Bee".

"Okay, Daddy." Leah was starting to like the sound of calling Jazz "Daddy" after seeing the love he had for her and the pride that he was one of her fathers. Soon after he left to the lobby, Alex started to teach her the different parts of the engine. After finishing that car, a truck pulled up and they worked on that. Then no more vehicles came in because the hard rain turned into a monsoon.

"Lunch time!" Prowl called from the landing. "Or are you going to work yourselves into exhaustion?"

With no more cars to fix, the four grimy adults and one grimy kid washed their hands and headed up the stairs. When Leah got into the apartment, the first thing to hit her was the smell. It was of chocolate, cheese, and broth. Leah guessed the meal correctly when hot chocolate, grilled cheese sandwiches, and chicken noodle soup awaited them at the table. Jazz sat next to her as she got the chair that she sat at for breakfast. Gabriel sat next her again as Seb sat on the other side of him. They began to eat as soon as Prowl came to the table with crackers. After they eat, however, the phone rang. Gabe answered.

"Hello? Oh, hey Rosanne! Uh huh, uh huh. That difficult? Okay. I'll be over as soon as I can." Gabriel hung up and Leah pounced. "Who's Rosanne? Where are you going? Can I come along?"

Sebastion laughed and explained, "She's our next door neighbor that's a tattooist like Hide. They met when he was getting a tattoo."

"Oh, yeah. And yes, you _may_ come along." Gabe added.

"Yay!!!" Leah didn't have a raincoat, so Gabe let her borrow one of his. It was big, brown, a little heavy, and very comfortable. It covered her completely and made her look a little bit bulky, but she would be dry with it and its hood. Soon after Gabe put on his coat, they began to walk towards Rosanne's.

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	4. Chapter 4

**All right, here you go! **

Free to a Good Home part 4

When Leah and Gabriel exited the Fireshot, as Leah learned earlier, the monsoon blew them away. Ducking their heads against the storm, they quickly ran to Café and Tats. Well, Leah ran and Gabe trotted. When they entered the shop, Leah was surprised by the mix of people.

There were people with tons of visible tattoos and piercings while some had no tattoos and piercings. Others had just piercings while some just had tattoos. The rest had barely visible tats and piercings or just the standard one pair earrings.

Bags of delicious smelling coffee beans drifted toward Leah's nose and tickled it, causing her to sneeze. A bar held some muffins, bagels, and other foods. Coffeemakers, bottles of alcohol that were locked up and a sign that boldly said, "NO ALCOHOL UNTIL EIGHT PM!!!", tea bags, and stove/grill were near the wall. A sign near the back doorway said "Tattoos in here." An arrow pointed to the door, and Leah noticed that some of the customers had pieces of papers with designs on them.

When Gabe entered, everyone hooted and yelled, "Hey, Gabe! Go Gabriel!" There were a couple of ladies behind the counter and one yelled, "Whose kid is that, Gabe?"

Gabe puffed his chest and grinned proudly while pulling Leah close to him. "She's the Fireshot's."

"You won against Child Services people?!" A customer shouted.

"Of course they did. They had me for a bloody neighbor, now don't they?" A red headed woman with a couple of visible tattoos and piercings, which included a belly piercing, exited the Tats part of the shop.

"Rosanne! Great to see you again!" Gabe said as he swept the red head into a hug, the other customers returning to their purchases.

"You saw me yesterday, you big oaf. Now, please properly introduce me to this fine young lady," Rosanne said as she swatted Hide.

"Leah, this is Rosanne Smith. Rosanne, this Leah Beta," Hide introduced the adult and girl to each other and continued, "Now if you pardon me, I need to do a tattoo. Watch Leah for me, will you Rosanne?"

"Of course, now get in there and work your magic!" Rosanne said with her light English accent and a laugh. Saluting the two girls, Gabriel went into the Tats half, leaving Leah with Rosanne.

"Well, let's hope that Gabe can do that tattoo or we'll be in trouble," Rosanne muttered under her breath. Turning to Leah, she smiled. "You hungry?"

"No thank you. We just had lunch." Leah replied with a small smile.

"Alright. Pick a seat at the bar while I fix me a cup of coffee." Leah did as she was told and Rosanne did make a cup of coffee that smelled like cinnamon.

"How did Gabe find you?" Leah asked, thinking that Rosanne had a spark too. Rosanne smiled and explained, "Gabe found me, a plain human, when he needed a tattoo done on his back. After that, we continued to talk. In time, he introduce me to Sebastion, and we've had some sort of sibling rivalry ever since."

"Oh," Leah said, realizing what Rosanne meant by "a plain human", "What kind of sibling rivalry?"

"Basicly, the 'I can win against you' kind. We _love_ trying to beat each other in poker." Rosanne said with a laugh.

"How come it's a café and a tattoo shop?" Leah asked, curious.

"Well, I can make a pretty darn good coffee and I like doing tattoos, so why not combine the two? So I did. Besides, some people like coffee while getting their tattoos."

"Oh." It seemed logical to Leah.

"Chase doesn't really get though. I like to make stuff, not just tattoos and coffee," Rosanne continued.

"I get it! That's why you opened the Café and Tats?" Leah said.

"Yeah. It's pretty cool, except the days that work is really slow and time seems to drag on."

Leah giggled at that, and they continued to chat while Gabriel finished up the tattoo that was giving Rosanne trouble. As they were waiting, more people came in for coffee, hot chocolate, and other warm drinks. When he was finished, Rosanne went back to work with the promise that she'll call again if there was another tattoo that was being difficult.

On the way home, Gabe carried Leah so that she didn't get left behind in the pouring rain that was still going. When they entered the shop, there was no one there. With good reason; it was almost 5:30 and the rain wasn't stopping!

"So did you have fun?" Gabe asked as he helped Leah out of her borrowed coat. Leah nodded her little head as she hugged Gabriel as he was still kneeling down with the coat and kissed his cheek.

"Rosanne was nice!" she replied. Gabe chuckled as he returned her kiss.

"Of course she is. She deals with us all the time." Leah giggled at the joke as they walked up the stairs to the apartment. When they entered, they noticed Bee on the couch in the living room, reading. Looking up, Alex noticed that the other two members of the Fireshot were finally out of the rain. Putting down his book, he asked, "Wow, three hours. That must've been one hard tattoo."

"It _was_ a hard one. No wonder Rosanne rated it a nine on the hard scale. Why is the shop closed?" Gabriel asked.

"No one else came in after you left, and nobody wanted to pick anything up in this storm. So we decided that the smartest move was to close up." Alex replied.

"Where's everyone else?" Leah asked, looking around. She did hear someone in the kitchen, but she didn't hear anyone else.

"Jazz is in the kitchen, making dinner. Chase is working out with Eric, and Seb's taking a nap, I'm not completely sure." Bee informed her. Gabe grinned like mad at the nap part and ran off to Sebastion after he hung up the coats. Leah ran straight into the kitchen to see Jazz at the stove. Running straight for him, she hugged him while he was at the counter and nothing was in his hands.

"Oof!" Jazz didn't really expect the attack, although he should have seen it coming.

"Daddy!!" Leah cheered as Jazz untangled her from his legs and hugged her into his chest.

"Hey, baby. Did you have fun?" Jazz asked, squeezing her.

"Uh huh. What's for supper?"

"Gumbo. No tasting until dinner, though." Jazz said as she looked for the ladle. "Want to see Chase?"

"Yeah!" Leah squirmed as she was put down.

"Go get him! I've got to finish dinner." Jazz said as Leah ran down to the basement. Eric was busy running while Chase punched and kicked the punching bag. Running feet on the stairs alerted them to stop and see who was coming down. Realizing that it was Leah, Eric hopped off the treadmill while Prowl moved toward his foster daughter. Making a jumping leap, Leah landed in Chase's arms and was swept up into a sweaty hug.

"Hi, Papa," she said as she watched the love and pride grew in Chase's blue eyes.

"Hello, Leah," he replied as they rubbed noses. Eric smiled at the adorable moment before clasping his hand on Chase's shoulder and pulled him to the stairs while simultaneously giving Leah a kiss on her forehead.

"C'mon. Let's shower then we can have some of Jazz's gumbo." Eric said. Prowl chuckled at that while Eric asked Leah, "Did he say what the meat was?"

Leah shook her head no while they went up the stairs. As soon as they reached the top stair, Chase put her down and said, "Tell Jazz that Eric and I are going to shower, then we'll be at dinner, okay?"

"Okay!" With that, she bounced away to tell Jazz while the two adults looked at her lovingly and went to their separate showers, Eric's in his room and Chase in the public bathroom. After telling Jazz what Prowl said, Leah then went to Bee to tell him that supper was almost done. Alex offered to tell Sebastion and Gabriel that dinner was just about ready since the door was closed. Finally, Prowl came out of the bathroom, fully dressed and rubbing his hair as Jazz yelled "Dinner!!!"

Alex and Eric rushed in to help with the dishes, only to be stopped at the sight of Leah and Prowl getting the dishes together. Alex was the first to say something. "Uh, when did Leah learn the kitchen works?"

"Just now. Grab the silverware, please." Chase answered. Bee looked at Prime, who shrugged and got the silverware. Finally, Gabe and Seb made it to the table and everyone dug into the clam, chicken, and sausage gumbo. It was spicy, spicy enough to make even Eric's eyes water. Leah didn't mind; it was good! Finally, dinner was over and the dishes were in the dishwasher.

"Leah, you are in serious need of a bath," Alex laughed. It was true; she was covered in grime.

"Bath, then pajamas, little missy. Okay?" Jazz said. Leah nodded and Jazz escorted her to the bathroom. As he started the bath, she undressed and as soon as the bath was done, complete with bubbles, she hopped in, with no Jazz in there, of course. She soaked in the water for a little while, then scrubbed off the grime that was on her skin. After she finished scrubbing and draining the water, she ran to her room with a towel around her to get into her pajamas. Finally, she headed towards the kitchen with her pajamas on.

"It's Bee's turn tonight, right?" Eric asked as she came into the kitchen. A chorus of "yes"s was his answer and Leah looked around confused.

"What's tonight?" she asked, confused.

"Movie night. Every Saturday night we switch turns on picking the movie. Tonight's Alex's turn," Sebastion explained, hoisting her into his arms. Everyone else was in the living room, waiting for Alex's selection.

"Here's one that we haven't seen in awhile!" Bee exclaimed, holding up _Home Alone_.

"Oh boy." Gabriel said with a smirk. Sebastion sighed and handed Leah to Eric.

"I'll make sure everything's locked up before someone wakes up in the middle of the night and decides to check the locks." said Seb. With that said he went to check the locks. When he came back, Eric refused to give her up to Seb good-naturedly, and Bee inserted the DVD. He then plopped down next to Eric and the movie began.

Leah never saw a movie like Alex's selection before. It was live, not animated, and the crooks didn't even know what hit them! The main character was a kid like her, and was smart. Then again he was older than her and playing.

When the movie ended, Leah was feeling tired. Apparently so was everyone else, because after the movie was over, everyone gave their good night hugs and kisses and went to bed. Prowl tucked her in and asked, "Did you have fun today?"

Leah nodded her head sleepily and said, "I got to meet Rosanne."

"So I've heard. You like her?"

"Uh huh. She's nice." Chase chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Good-night, Leah."

"Nighty-night, Papa." Prowl turned off the light and Leah fell into a dreamless sleep.

**Cuteness! Next up, chicken pox and kindergarten? What the heck! Please read and review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**This was fun to write!! The school idea was inspired by Charles M. Schulz's _Peanuts_. Enjoy!!**

Free to a Good Home part 5

In over a month that Leah had been there, there had been many adjustments made to the lives of the Fireshots. Gabriel's beer and other alcoholic beverages were kept well out of reach of Leah's curious fingers. Sebastion insisted on giving her wings a checkup every week. Alex began to teach her some martial art moves. Eric was trying to keep his cussing in line and invented new curses around her. Chase and Jazz were the parental control of the gang and gave out her punishments, though it barely happened. The one time that she got grounded (she got into Gabe's gun cabinet while it was unlocked), she wasn't allowed into the shop. Being grounded to the house was the worst punishment ever, especially since Chase and Jazz had work and everyone except Sebastion was in the garage. It was no fun!

For the Fourth of July, the entire gang went to one of the main bridges in the city to see the really big fireworks go off. It was magnificent, with many different colors and designs going off and the water reflecting the colors. The _BOOM_ of the fireworks filled Leah with happiness of seeing the pretty lights that follow the explosion. Chase held her in his lap as the fireworks exploded, and put her in her booster seat in their car. On the way home, she fell asleep, and Jazz carried her to bed. But nothing would prepare them for one of the worst things a parent would worry about.

It all started when Jazz and Prowl were at work and the rest of the gang besides Sebastion finish closing up the shop. So Leah went to Sebastion for an itch that seemed to be everywhere on her body; they had an "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" policy in the Fireshot, and they took it seriously. If Eric asked Alex to help him get an itch he couldn't reach on his back, Alex would help him and would get an itch relieved in return.

Leah went to Ratchet, who was in the kitchen, because she wasn't allowed to help close up the shop yet and asked to relieve an itch that was everywhere. Seb was surprised at her request, then grew serious, because she wasn't feeling well the day before.

"Turn around," he ordered. Leah did as she was told and Seb lifted the back of her shirt. He let out a low whistle at the sight of her back. Leah's skin maybe dark, but it was still light enough for Sebastion to see the little angry red spots on her back.

"Oh, boy. Prowl's gonna have a fit."

"What do you mean 'Prowl's gonna have a fit?' What's wrong with Leah?" Bee asked as the rest of the garage entered the kitchen. Seb looked up from Leah's back and said, "Leah's got the chicken pox."

"I'm gonna turn into a chicken?!" Leah yelped as she lifted up the front end of her shirt to see more spots on her stomach.

"No! Gabe, stop laughing," Seb said as Gabriel laughed his head off and had to sit in a chair. Eric and Alex were trying to stifle their laughter but were having little success. Seb turned Leah around after pulling her shirt back down and explained, "You just have a virus that makes you itchy and have blisters, that's all. You are most defiantly _not_ going to turn into a chicken."

"Oh." Leah said, the only word able to come to mind right then and there.

"Alright, into pajamas and head to bed. I'll call Jazz and tell him to pick up the ingredients of that lotion that he uses against poison oak." Eric said, laughter finally under control. Leah pouted and Gabe her a little push to her room. Turning around, Leah playfully stuck her tongue at him, and he did the same, allowing her to see his tongue stud. Giggling, she ran to her room, but heard Gabe yell, "No scratching! Okay?"

"Yes, sir!" Leah yelled back. She then closed her door to change into pajamas. After that she climbed into bed, feeling tired. Closing her eyes, she fell asleep. The next thing she knew, Leah was being lifted into strong arms and a cool, thick liquid that eased the itching on her back a bunch.

"Hold still. This should tame that itch you have until morning." Leah opened her eyes to see Jazz, a Mason jar full of green stuff that he was spreading on her back, and children's cold medicine.

"Daddy?" Leah asked softly, making sure that he was really there.

"Yeah, sugar. I'm here and so is Prowl." Leah looked over her shoulder to see Chase there, a worried frown on his face and medicine in hand. Leah gave him a small smile and said, "Hi, Papa."

"Hello, Leah. Hungry?" Chase asked after giving her the medicine. Leah shook her head no and went back to sleep, but not before feeling the two kisses to her head. Soup came to her in bed, and with Eric standing over her, Leah was forced to have every last drop of the tomato soup. This treatment continued for the duration of the illness, and Leah hated every second of being sick.

She wasn't allowed to go down to the garage, so she was bored out of her mind. She was constantly watched by Ratchet. Constant bathes were also an issue. The only good that came of being sick to Leah was the green lotion. That was heaven in a jar.

When she finally got well, the first thing that she did was help out in the garage. This continued for the rest of summer, with fun trips to the park, museums, the local pool, and other sightseeing places.

Then summer was beginning to draw to a close and the gang decided to send Leah to a public school near Alex's own school. He was starting senior year and Leah would be starting kindergarten.

Now all they had to do was tell her.

"Bee, why do you have that camera?" Jazz asked as Alex came skidding in with a video camera in his hot little hand.

"To record Leah's reaction. After missing the chicken pox reaction, I am not going to miss this!" Alex explained. Gabriel snickered at that as the others rolled their eyes. A purple housecat wondered in the room and everyone checked to see if Leah was up. She had worked on her animalistic imagery all summer and progressed from snake and mouse to rat, fly, cat, and other small animals; she wasn't quite there yet on the "big animal" department yet. Sometimes her wings come out in her dreams, creating the images in her sleep. This was one of those times.

Chase shook his head as he went to wake her up. When he entered Leah's room, it was bathed in the purple light that came from her wings. He went to her and gently woke her up. Leah's amethyst eyes blinked sleepily as Prowl gathered her up in his arms and her little wings went back into herself.

"Papa?" she asked.

"Yeah, family meeting of sorts is going on." Chase said.

"Oh. About what?"

"You'll see," was her only answer.

Chase sat down in his chair with Leah in his lap as Jazz gave her a good morning kiss to the forehead. Soon everyone was at the table, and Leah eyed Bee's video camera curiously.

"Why do you have that, Alex?" she asked.

Alex snickered. "You'll see, Leah. You'll see."

"Leah." She turned around to see Jazz looking at her seriously as he continued, "We've enrolled you in a safe public school near Bee's own school. In a couple more weeks, you'll be starting kindergarten."

Leah's went wide and she yelled, "KINDERGARTEN?!"

"Of course, Leah. We all learned by going to school," Sebastion said helpfully. It backfired as Leah yelled again, "_SCHOOL?!_"

"We all had to go to school. That's how you get an education," Eric added.

"**EDUCATION?!?" **She rounded toward Eric with big eyes.

"I'm starting to feel sorry for the poor teacher," Alex snickered, Gabe laughing his head off. Leah turned to him next.

"_**TEACHER?!?!"**_

"Leah, everyone has to go to school. I didn't know the works of an engine until I went to school," Gabriel said, finally getting his laughter under control to say something. Leah looked at all of the adults' faces and asked, "Do I have to?"

"Yes, and don't worry. Alex is basicly right next door with the high school people," Prowl said. Alex nodded, confirming Chase's statement. Leah sighed.

"All right, I'll go to school, and I'll learn their games, BUT I WON'T LEARN LATIN!!!!" she declared, setting off another round of laughter. After the laughter subsided, Alex explained that she doesn't learn Latin in kindergarten.

And so the day continued as normal with Leah helping out in the garage and Jazz and Prowl at work. Then Rosanne came over for the Friday night poker games. Leah told Rosanne as soon as she came in about that morning. Alex showed her the clip to for evidence. Eric showed off his awesome fire juggling skills for Leah while supper (Chinese) was being picked up, as she couldn't get enough of seeing the balls of light be tossed hand to hand in a circle. Finally, they settled down to play poker.

"Still can't believe I have to go to school," Leah pouted.

"Yeah, I still can't believe that I'm piercing people's private places and tattooing their bodies, but doesn't change a thing," Rosanne retorted.

"All right people, ante up," Alex called; everyone put in their chips, and the game began. Yet somehow the girls seem to beat the boys more often than not.

"I can't believe I lost to my own foster niece," Gabriel groaned at the end of the games. Leah giggled, then shrieked as she was pulled into a Gabe-sized bear hug. Jazz rescued her and tucked her into bed, a habit formed early on.

"Night, Leah," Jazz said, giving her a kiss.

"Night, Daddy," Leah muttered, too tired to do much else but sleep. Prowl came in later and performed the same ritual with her. Finally, Prime, Bee, Ratchet, and Hide came in to say good night and give their hugs and kisses.

After Leah went to bed, Rosanne broke out the alcohol and the adults started their own card games.

**Leah's first day of school and first piercings are coming up next!! Please R&R!!**


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